For the day, the Dow ended higher by 27.57 points (0.2%) at 13,534.89. Nasdaq ended lower by 6.72 points (0.22%) at 3,110.78. S&P 500 ended higher by 1.66 points (0.11%) at 1,472.34.
Among the ten economic sectors, telecommunications the biggest laggard and consumer discretionary faring best among its 10 major sectors. Dow components had a mixed finish. While H-P led the Dow decliners, Microsoft led the Dow winners.
Apple was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500 and also pressured the Nasdaq. Its shares dropped 3.2% to $485.92 a day after the consumer-technology company's drop pushed two of the three benchmark indexes into the red. Apple lost nearly 4% on Monday on reports that it had cut orders for iPhone 5 parts on weak demand.
Fed Chairman Bernanke late Monday said the U.S. economic recovery is still fragile and strongly hinted that the Fed's monthly bond-buying program will not end any time soon. That was a bullish development for the raw commodity markets, including the precious metals. The most recent FOMC minutes had shown some Fed officials were in favor of ending the bond-buying program at year end.
In the currency market, the dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies rose by 0.3%.
European and U.S. stock markets were pressured a bit Tuesday on a warning from the U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner that the U.S. cannot skirt its debt ceiling, while the Fitch credit rating agency said it could downgrade the U.S.'s credit rating if the U.S. delays raising its debt ceiling.
European Union economic data released Tuesday was a mixed bag. Germany's GDP contracted by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of last year. However, Euro zone exports showed a record large trade surplus in November. There were also strong government bond sales in Italy and Spain, which is a clue that European investor sentiment toward the EU continues on the upswing. The Euro currency has been pushed to a multi-month high this week on the upbeat sentiment regarding the EU.
The market received several economic data points today at Wall Street. Excluding autos, retail sales rose by 0.3%, which was in-line with the market consensus. December producer prices decreased by 0.2%, which was cooler than the unchanged reading that had been widely forecast. Core producer prices rose by 0.1%, which was cooler than the uptick of 0.2% expected by the consensus.
The Empire Manufacturing Survey for January registered a reading of -7.8, which was up from the prior month's reading of -8.1. Market had expected that the Survey would rise to 2.0. Also, during November, business inventories rose by 0.3%, which was in-line with the consensus. Today's reading follows the prior month's uptick of 0.4%.
Financials outperformed the broader market with ten sector components scheduled to report their quarterly results ahead of tomorrow's open. JPMorgan Chase was in the news today as the bank was ordered to improve its risk controls following last year's $6.2 billion derivative trading loss. The market will also receive quarterly results from Goldman Sachs.
Bullion metals at Comex finished higher on Tuesday, 15 January 2013. Comex gold futures prices ended the U.S. day session moderately higher and hit a fresh two-week high after the yellow metal saw some fresh speculative buying interest. Gold for February delivery rose $14.5 (0.9%) to settle at $1,683.9 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. On Tuesday, March silver rose $0.42, or 1.4% to settle at $31.53 an ounce.
Crude oil prices ended lower on Tuesday, 15 January 2013 at Nymex. Prices ended lower on latest reports of reduction in oil production by OPEC which hinted at lower demand for crude at coming months. A higher dollar also suppressed prices. On Tuesday, light and sweet crude oil futures for light sweet crude for February delivery closed lower by $0.86 (0.9%) at $93.28/barrel.
More than 600 million shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Composite volume topped 3.1 billion.
Indian ADRs ended mixed on Tuesday. In the Banking space, ICICI Bank was up 0.2% and HDFC Bank was down 2.8%. In the IT space, Infosys was down 1.8% and Wipro was down 0.8%. In the Telecom space, MTNL was up 2.8% and Tata Communication was up 0.11%. In the other space, Sterlite was down 0.8%; Tata Motors was up 1.1%. Dr Reddys was unchanged.
For tomorrow, in terms of economic data, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET. December CPI and core CPI will both be released at 8:30 ET. At 9:00 ET, November net long-term TIC flows will hit the wires. December industrial production and capacity utilization will be reported at 9:15 ET while January NAHB Housing Market Index will cross at 10:00 ET. Lastly, the Federal Reserve will release its January Beige Book at 14:00 ET.
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